Bookclub Read Me: The passion according to G. H. - Clarice Lispector

25
September
De Groene Waterman 17:30

Read and connect by joining our English Bookclub. Today Philippe vanhoof talks about Clarice Lispector, 'The Passion According the G.H.'

Philippe Vanhoof is a Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant of Translation Studies at the French section of the Department of Translators and Interpreters at the University of Antwerp and a member of the TricS research group (Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies). His research intersects with pornographic literature in translation, (transgressive) translational stylistics, philosophy of translation and critical (translation) theory, complexity thinking and the ideological, translational and transcultural dimensions of intellectual and sexual history. Every now and then, he translates prose and poetry from French, English and Russian – for fun mostly.

With A paixão segundo G.H. (1964), Ukraine-born Brazilian author Clarice Lispector interrogates the meaning of life in its purest form: a seemingly mundane event disrupts the usual course of daily life and causes a devastating existential upheaval. After killing a cockroach in her maid’s extremely tidy room, artist G. H. plunges into an existential crisis, which Lispector translates into a stream of consciousness on language, life and faith. Through mystical elements, the reader is confronted with the disturbed relationship between language, meaning and intense emotion. To what extent does language give meaning to our life? Can all emotion be expressed in language? Is language more of a cage to thought? The English translation by American poet Idra Novey, The Passion According to G.H. (2012), features a brief translator’s note, in which Novey illustrates some translational choices. As Clarice Lispector states at the beginning of her book: “This book is like any other book. But I would be happy if it were only read by people whose souls are already formed.”

Practicalities:

  • When: Thursday 25th of September 2025
  • Where: De Groene Waterman - Wolstraat 7, 2000 Antwerp
  • Participation is free. Monetary contributions are appreciated but remain completely voluntary.
  • Please register by sending an e-mail to groenewaterman@groenewaterman.be

The complete list of all Read Me-sessions:



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